watch CBS tonight

[mbouse]

Hopefully, some fair and honest dialog will take place, as opposed to the recent one-sided badgering we received last week from that Fox news A&&hole...

From John Montgomery, President of FLU:

"Hi All,
Just got word from Bobb Rayner late this AM that he will be interviewed by CBS Evening News for a segment slated to air tonight!
The CBS crew is on their way now to tape it this afternoon. ... This should be quite exciting, Bobb was not expecting the call today but he can do it!
Best Regards,
John Montgomery - President, Fiat Lancia Unlimited "

[mdrburchette]

Is this the 6:00 news or later?

[mbouse]

i dunno. i gave as much info as i was given

and

yer askin' a guy that doesn't watch much TV during the week. i grab most of my news off the 'net.

[rlux4]

Mike, if you're not watching network news, how do you know what you're supposed to think?
Ron

[sjmst]

(CBS) A week after Fiat joined hands with Chrysler, the Italian automaker is looking to buy GM's European operations and its Opel brand - a move that could make it the world's fourth largest car company.

"Right now, they're bargain shopping. Let's face it," analyst Jack Nerad told CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason.

Nerad says it's the new survival strategy.

"To play in this game in the future car companies are feeling they have to be global or they're not a player at all," he said.

Only five years ago, Fiat itself was on the brink of bankruptcy. But new CEO Sergio Marchionne engineered a stunning turnaround. As car sales slid across Europe in March, Fiat's sales were up almost 15 percent.

"Fiat has demonstrated that it can build the clean, fuel-efficient cars that are the future of the industry," President Obama said.

But international mergers can be tricky and Chrysler's previous marriage ended in divorce after Daimler, the German automaker, lost billions. Now its Fiat's turn to try to understand the American customer.

"That was Daimler's failing with Chrysler," Nerad said. "They didn't really get the North American market. They didn't get what the Chrysler brand stood for."

In Europe Fiat has been using an American actor to sell its cars. But as the commercials point out, when you buy a Fiat "George Clooney is not included."

For now, Ferrari and Maserati are the only Fiat-owned brands sold in the U.S. The Italian automaker pulled out of the American market in the early 1980's, when some buyers joked that Fiat stood for "fix it again, Tony."

But Fiat still has its fans here, like Bobb Rayner, who's owned nine of the cars. As head of the largest Fiat fan club in the country, he likes to quote his favorite auto writer: "...who said the Germans invented the automobile, the Americans turned it into a disposable item, but the Italians taught it how to dance and sing."

If its bold expansion strategy is going to work, Fiat will need to give Detroit some dancing lessons.



© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[wengr]

Was that X1\9 Bobb Raynor had brown? could it be the same one he had back in the early 80's? seemed to move pretty good.

[sys700]

Video here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/ ... topStories

[sys700]

A few years ago if you would have told me that FIAT would become the world's second largest auto company I would have laughed at you:

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/ca ... Automaker/

[mbouse]

Mike, if you're not watching network news, how do you know what you're supposed to think?
Ron

i'm married ron. if i have an opinion, it is automatically wrong. if i need a thought, i just ask for one.

[rlux4]

Amen, amen, amen.
Ron